The Historic Bunnamagoo Homestead

For a quarter of a century the sandstone ramparts of the Blue Mountains defied the attempts of the first settlers to explore the lands west of Sydney’s coastal plain.

Finally, in 1813 Gregory Blaxland, William Wentworth and William Lawson found their way through the maze of blind valleys and vertical cliffs of the Great Dividing Range to discover vast tracts of pastoral land. In 1815 the first settlement on the western plains was established at Bathurst.

Just ten years later, Thomas Pye arrived at the eastern bank of the Campbell’s River with a herd of cattle some 30 kilometres southwest of Bathurst. He immediately recognised that he had discovered some of the richest grazing land in the colony. In 1827 Pye secured a grant over land near the junction of the Campbell’s and Gilmandyke Rivers and there with the help of convict labourers he crafted a simple house on a rise overlooking the Campbell’s River. This was one of the first pastoral homesteads built west of the ranges.

In 1856 Mr. Pye and his manager, Mr. Nichols, fended off an attack by bushrangers from the homestead but Pye received wounds from which he never recovered.

The property came to be known by its Aboriginal name, Bunnamagoo - “the meeting of the waters”. The classically proportioned two-storey Georgian house with its roofed flagstone verandah was built from soapstone quarried nearby. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden established in the distant past but reinvigorated by the Thompson family in 1970.

Over the years as the property passed from owner to owner it was subjected to a number of unsympathetic alterations. By the time Bunnamagoo was acquired by the Paspaley family in 1992 the original soapstone house had fallen badly into decay. Over the years, the rudimentary mortar that bound the random shaped stoned had been leached away by the rain and harsh cold conditions. A local architect, Henry Bialowas, was commissioned to restore the house and with due regard to its historical significance to make additions to enable the house to be used as the homestead of a working farm.

Henry Bialowas found that one of the walls had bowed out so badly that at its worst point it was nearly 200 mm out of true and in danger of collapsing. He described the structure as little more than a pile of rocks under a roof. It was necessary to dismantle the wall, carefully numbering the stones and rebuild it using stainless steel tubes so that grout could be pumped in to seal the interior against the elements.

A sympathetic extension was added to the rear of the house affording much needed extra accommodation. The original living room, which had been enclosed by a brick wall in the 1970s, was opened to the views and the interiors were renovated to meet modern standards.

The completed house was awarded a heritage commendation by the National Trust.

Bunnamagoo continues to be run as a grazing property and the Bunnamagoo Estate vineyard is producing fine cool climate wines. The wines display a picture of the old homestead on the label and the Bunnamagoo Reserve vintages are designated “1827” to commemorate the date of its construction.